The Wolverines are hoping they'll make the same improvement other recent teams have made in their coach's third season. Michigan went 8-5 in coach Brady Hoke's second season and never really seemed to recover from its 41-14 loss to Alabama in the opener. The good news is juniorDevin Gardner got some experience at quarterback after Denard Robinson was injured midway through the season. Gardner went 3-2 as a starter, completing 59 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns in the five games he played under center. The Wolverines might have to replace four starting offensive linemen if junior left tackle Taylor Lewan leaves for the NFL draft. Six starters are coming back on defense, but they'll miss cornerback J.T. Floyd and safety Jordan Kovacs. Michigan's schedule won't be easy in 2013, with games at Penn State, Michigan State and Northwestern and home games against Notre Dame, Nebraska and Ohio State.

“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” - Bo Schembechler

Well, couldn't you say the same thing about Ohio? Hell, really any team in the B1G? I guess they had a close win over a decent UW team on the road. And doesn't it matter that the most 'decent' teams we played on the road were all in the top-10 and three in top-5 at the end of the season? I mean, I know what you're saying, but I really do believe this team is a much better team than than #23 next year. A lot of that is based on our decent efficency stats and the underperformace against predicted success with those same stats, and some of it is just the eyeball test.

If Denard doesn't go down against Neb when we're outgaining them, do you think we win that game? Maybe, and I'll go as far as to say probably. If Denard doesn't melt down against ND, do you think we win that game? Maybe, and I'll go as far as to say probably. If Borges doesn't go batshit crazy after leading at half against Ohio, do we win that game? Maybe. Just maybe that time. The point is that we didn't get run out of any stadium the entire year except Alabama.

Sometimes I feel the eye test is a little under-used. Sure 'finding a way to win' is a very important and admirable aspect of a team, and is totally neccsary to winning championships. But basing everything on 'just finding a way to win' over more than one or two games means you end up with a number 1 ranked team that has no place actually being number 1 and results in a terrible national title game. Long story short, I think we should be higher. Not that it matters much because I think we will be higher by end of the 2013 season.

You can't argue that OSU didn't beat any one and was overanked then argue that UM is underranked for losing to said OSU on the road as a top 5 team. If we were over-ranked then it's a bad loss. If it's a good loss, then we are a top team. It can't be both.

Their best offensive lineman is gone off a poor offensive line, their workhorse RB and only back to get carries this year left early for the draft, their only consistent receiving threat left early for the draft, they benched their redshirt junior QB in the bowl game for a redshirt freshman who barely had more passing yards than said RB that left early, and they are bringing back the worst offensive coordinator in the B10. I would not be surprised if they get shut out in at least 4 games next year.

I don't think we will lose, but I don't think it will be easy. They are still going to have a stout defense and their offense was horrendous this year and we barely squeaked it out at home. Also we lose basically our entire oline and our only proven rushing threat. I wouldn't be surprised to see another 12-10 type of game.

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

We're starting in the Perfect Spot... Albeit unsure if it's well deserved. The schedule is C+ compared to this year's A/A-... We could run the OOC with resistance on the ND game only.

Entering the Conference we should handle with the way our team is developing. I'm so excited to see next year's defense. Especially assuming Countess bounces back fine... Next year should be our 2012 ND year!

Agreed. I would rather win the Rose Bowl than get thrust into a national championship game against a team that we have no business being on the same field as. And since we haven't won the Big Ten Championship in almost 10 years, let's focus on the attainable.

I thought when you capitalized "Perfect Spot" that it was referring to somewhere on a girl's...nevermind.

I think the schedule is much more than a C+; NW will be a tough game next year at their place, Sparty will make life difficult before losing, and Penn State away is a real challenge. Ohio, ND, and Nebraska are very good teams that will threaten Hoke's unblemished Big House record.

I think this year's schedule was an A, next season's is a B+.

And I do believe we should probably be ranked closer to #15, but we have to prove it.

For once, Michigan is seriously underrated. We lost to three of the top four teams in the country, and could have won two without stretching anyone's imagination.

9-10 wins is pretty likely, which translates to about 6-15 depending on the timing of losses. OSU and ND are going to be strong. Nebraska might be good. Everyone else on Michigan's schedule has serious problems. Michigan needs to replace a lot of lineman, but given the pedigree of the replacements and underperformance of non-Lewan lineman, I'm optimistic about at least a push in performance. Subtract Alabama, and we're already at 9 wins.

I don't get the Nebraska concerns. What changes are they going to incorporate over the offseason to keep their defense from hemorraging points? Myself, I am much more worried about a stumble on the road at Northwestern next season than the Huskers at home.

Not surprising, in my opinion. Michigan didn't really beat anyone of note. They lost to 5 tough teams (or 4 plus Nebraska), but they didn't really beat anyone of note. "Good losses" don't really mean a whole lot if there are no good wins in the mix, either.

I think they'll finish higher than 23 next season, but Michigan has earned a reputation for mediocrity that's going to take a while to turn around.

"...I wouldn't be so sure those women were innocent. The children are obviously innocent - if they are less than five."

Northwestern was a good win, or a win against a good team. N'W went 2-0 against the SEC, beating two SEC bowl teams. Of course, it's too early to say how good Michigan will be next year. Swinging another recruit or two, especially a tailback, could impact things.

I, too, was surprised by the ranking for Wisconsin. They didn't exactly light the world on fire this season and will have a new coaching staff next year. I admit that I have no idea what their schedule is like for 2013 -- knowing Wisconsin the non-conference schedule will be an absolute joke, though.

EDIT: Well, I actually went ahead and read the article at the link and now I see why they have Wisco so high: they do not play Michigan, Michigan State or Nebraska next season. So, they play N'Western, Iowa and Minnesota from the Legends along with playing in the craptastic Leaders division. So, yeah, I can see a "rebound" year in the cards for Wisconsin given the lousy schedule they will be facing; 10 wins seems pretty likely given that sh*tty schedule.

Maybe* he's carefully considering the pros and cons of not staying in Ann Arbor for one more season. Let's face it, this winter at Crisler is shaping up to be loads of fun, maybe he doesn't want to miss it.

This list seems more like a knee-jerk response to this year's bowl season than an honest attempt at evaluating teams' 2013 prospects. I bet if UM had pulled it out against South Carolina, we'd be around 15 on this list (and so would they).

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

Everyone is bearish on A&M because a good chunk of their OL graduates and I don't think they're sitting on Alabama level depth in College Station. Johnny Football may find it tough sledding next season with more dudes in his face.

Back in the day, I really enjoyed the CNNSI channel before that got canned. NBCsports Network is putting some quality stuff out there, and will only get better now that hockey will be starting back up.

I was excited when that channel was launched. They just need to get in there and get some other contracts. Not that I'm complaining that they show hockey, even though I feel like they don't show enough games.

As early as this poll is, if we played the 2013 season right now and just used the available predictor numbers, there would be six games where were are favored by ten or more points (Central Michigan, Akron, UConn, Minnesota, Indiana and Iowa) and two more where we would be favored by less than ten (Nebraska, Ohio State). In addition, there are three games that (Penn State, MSU, Northwestern), based on way-to-early predictors, would essentially be "pick 'em" games where were are favored (or not) by less than a point. The only game where we would be a decided underdog would be ND given the ratings right now. Granted, it's not exactly kosher to apply present data to future events like this, but it is what we have.

In other words, available data would predict eight "lean wins" right now, three toss-ups and one "lean loss" essentially. We don't really have much to go on, and it is hard to take a preseason poll put out less than a day after the previous season's finale all that seriously, but based on ratings that exist now, we would probably be underrated at #23 with the 2013 schedule (and applying the 2012 data of those teams), as some have mentioned.

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

Another thing to consider is that Michigan appears less vulnerable to offseason attrition this year than any other year in recent memory. We have much more depth than we're used to having, our coaching staff is stable, we only have one player likely to declare for the draft, and we don't seem to have as many key guys with legal issues, academic problems, transition issues, etc. Obviosuly you can never really predict what will happen when you're dealing with a pool of 85+ college kids, but this off-season I think the odds are good that other teams will be weakened by attrition a lot more than we will.

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

which seems likely considering that he is projected to get drafted at top 10. Michigan will lose their entire starting OL. Fitzgerald Toussaint is an unknown factor because of his gruesome injury and the RB is a huge question mark considering that they have a lot of trouble running this season. Luckily, they have Devin returning with starting experience.

On defense, they return players with experience, but no true pass rusher. Frank Clark have the potential, but haven't showed it yet. Losing Kovac hurts from the leadership standpoint, but they are replacing him with a better athlete at S. The CBs aren't terrible, but they're not great either. One must step up and become a true #1 CB, but we won't know until next season so secondary is still a concern. I expect the defense to be solid which won't be a concern with Mattison at DC.

Michigan have not beat anybody great and their best win is NW in which they were lucky to win thanks to Roundtree's miracle catch. However, they lost to every team who are good(not sure Nebraska would qualify as good). They have a pretty tough schedule with NW on the road, ND coming home(but Golson should improve and return key starters from a tough defense), PSU on the road, MSU on the road because of their defense, and OSU at home.

this is right about where we should be. i think next year we'll lose a game or two that we shouldn't, but will enter the 2014 offseason with a ton of momentum. knock off a solid sec opponent in a bowl game, and the defense and o-line start to gel by the end of the year. if gardner gets his rs and comes back, we enter 2014 as a legit top-10 team.

Attention campers. Lunch is cancelled due to lack of hustle. Deal with it.

ND not only loses Manti Te'o, but also Tyler Eifert is leaving. Eifert didn't amass great stats against Michgan, but he did catchone crucial pass each of the last two years, and he did win the John Mackey Award for 2012. A victory over ND, which should enter the game as a top five team, would go a long way toward helping the Wolverines have a better season.

Sorry, Bennet is an idiot if he thinks Michigan is #5 team in Big Ten. Just from the easier schedule alone, we will win 2 more games next year. The defense will better than last year and you can argue that offense will as well as long as Devin stays healthy the entire year. Anybody who thinks Michigan will have worse record next year than this year has no clue how college football works.

Earlier posters have IMO correctly ID'd the 2013 tossup games as PSU,MSU, NE, and NU. Could the presence of Derrick Green in the backfield make a difference in any of these games? I would guess MSU, NE, NU because they're later in the season, when hopefully the new (post-Lewan, probably) OL has had some time to gel. Green could be a major factor in turning a couple of those games from TUs to Ws.

A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth!